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TiVo and Netflix join forces for broadband movies

TiVo and Netflix are expected to announce a new partnership later this month …

TiVo and Netflix are expected to announce a new partnership later this month that will bring the power of NetFlix to the convenience of TiVo. While there are as of yet no official details, insiders say that TiVo subscribers who sign up with NetFlix will have the option of receiving their NetFlix rentals over broadband as opposed to snail mail. NetFlix currently mails DVD rentals to its customers, who then watch and return their rentals via mail as well. The service is lauded by many, but some find the wait time between mailing and receiving their rentals to be cumbersome.

This deal would eliminate or at least ease that problem, as returning a DVD would be as easy as deleting a downloaded movie. You may recall that in June I speculated about this very kind of service, noting a very important key ingredient: TiVo (or NetFlix) can "seed" movies in your queue even when you're not "ready" for them. With the current 3 DVD NetFlix service, you can have up to 3 DVDs at your home at a time. Presumably, after you watch one, you drop it in the mail, and within a few days (3 total for me), a new DVD arrives. By partnering with TiVo, NetFlix could deliver movies straight to your TiVo, and could quite possibly eliminate the in-between wait by loading more than 3 movies onto your TiVo, yet only letting you watch those for which you have digital keys. This is, again, all speculation, but I think it's easy to see how this could work very well if a few conditions are true: a) your TiVo has plenty of space, b) you don't reorder the top of your queue more than a few times a week, and c) you have quality broadband going into your TiVo.

This also eliminates a major headache for NetFlix: the mad rush for new releases. If they are not limited by physical DVDs, NetFlix would be able to promote this service as the one in which you never have to wait for a new release. This would trump even your local video store and the other copycat services available today. It is quite feasible to download a movie at TV-quality in a couple of hours.

This raises an important point, however: quality. Many people rent DVDs because of the superior quality. 720p or 1080i (though rare and often up-sampled) looks much better than TV (480i) quality, and often has 5.1 sound (or better). Even 480i DVDs look better than movies on Television, if only because those movies are often already compressed. Will TiVo users be happy with TV-quality movies? Currently the only HD-enabled TiVos are available to DirecTV subscribers. And therein lies another quirk.

It remains to be seen if DirecTV, TiVo's largest partner, will support the service. The Hughes-owned company has historically chosen not to support TiVo's more recent features (including the majority of features that come with Series2), and signs are strong that the company is losing interest in TiVo in favor of their own horrid abomination. DirecTV currently will not support networked TiVos, so unless they change their position (why eviscerate their own Pay Per View service?), this won't be an option. Cable companies may fight it, too. The Newsweek article speculates that Cable companies may actually choose to block a NetFlix/TiVo solution, although this could end up driving users to DSL, where such things are not legally possible. Stay tuned later this month for the official announcement.

Ken Fisher
Ken is the founder & Editor-in-Chief of Ars Technica. A veteran of the IT industry and a scholar of antiquity, Ken studies the emergence of intellectual property regimes and their effects on culture and innovation. Emailken@arstechnica.com//Twitter@kenfisher